HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA – Police are investigating an attempted petrol bombing of a metaphysical shop. On New Year’s eve day, someone tossed a Molotov cocktail through the window of Shooting for the Moon Spiritual Development Center.
Owner Kathy Brown said that she was on the second floor of the building when her dog’s barking alerted her that something was wrong. This happened just after 9 am. When she went down to investigate, felt a cold breeze in her shop.
That’s when she saw that the window at the front of her store was broken. Laying on the floor was a bottle filled with liquid with a scorched wick. Realizing that what she saw was a petrol bomb, more commonly called a Molotov cocktail, she immediately called police.
Thankfully, the petrol bomb had failed to ignite. The only real damage was to the window. In a telephone interview, Brown told The Wild Hunt, “Something extinguished that flame. There was protection, a Higher Power protected us.”
She said that she doesn’t know if this was a hate crime or if it was just kids acting up on the holiday.
Brown has owned and operated this holistic spiritual center and store in Hamilton Township for over 12 years. She has been at the same location for just over seven. The center doesn’t cater to any specific religion and has as its mission:
….provide a place where people can grow and learn and expand their awareness and understanding of others. Education and knowledge is power. Fear is what you experience when you do not understand something or someone. By understanding another’s Spirituality, you can link with that person to form a stronger bond, one that leads both individuals closer to the Divine.
Brown said that she has always enjoyed the support of the local community of just over 8000 people nestled in the Poconos. “All positive, nothing but love and light,” she added. As an example, she said that the local Lowe’s lumber store donated a scrap piece of ply-board to cover the broken window until she could arrange for new glass to be installed.
![Wood covers the broken window at Shooting for the Moon [courtesy photo]](https://wildhunt.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/petrol-bomb-inside.jpg)
Wood covers the broken window at Shooting for the Moon [courtesy photo]
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So much misplaced anger and unneeded violence in the world today. Our Light grows just that much dimmer with each act. We have to make our world better than this…
I do “hope” that it were “only” brainless assholes who committed the deed and not anti-Pagan haters. In any cases, this attack is horrid and should be condemned. Total support for Shooting for the moon.
Kathy Brown shouldn’t have to try to figure with it is. That’s a police job. Nice catch, Cara!
She needs to reinforce her protection spells, and keep up with it monthly.
Sounds like they are doing a pretty great job already since the molotov was extinguished.
This !
Perhaps a good security camera system might be a tad more practical.
Of course. A security camera would’ve entered the room and extinguished the flame. And it’d have arrested the arsonist. No, even physically intervened and stopped the arsonist from throwing the molotov in the first place. *rolls eyes*
Or the people involved might be rotting in a jail cell now. You think the fire would *not* have gone out if they had a security camera system? Geeze.
The efficacy of “security” cameras is very disputed.
No, of course I don’t claim the fire would not have gone out if there had been a “security” camera. But I claim it might help much less than advocates of surveillance measures often hope for. What’s sure is that the prevalence of surveillance makes for a loss of privacy. That is a loss too, not only suffering crime/terrorism. And the gains surveillance is supposed to yield are at least questionable.
I could quote Franklin here, of course.
I’ve actually been to this place. It’s quite literally nauseating to think that someone is so angry that someone else has the temerity to believe something different than they do, that they think violence is justified.
We have a name for them. They’re called Christians. Probably of the Fundamentalist or Dominionist stripe..
Not all of them. In fact, a minuscule number (especially compared to the number of Muslims who believe it).
Thank whomever that the damage was less than it could’ve been. Hope Kathy Brown is well and can go on with her store/center as long as she wants to.
No matter what physical damage did or did not occur, the violation one feels at such an attack can change the individual who experienced it in many, many little ways. When we were attacked, we received a tremendous outpouring of support from the Pagan community from around the world. It made a difference to not be alone and to feel that WE mattered. If you get a chance to send a quick note of support to Kathy Brown, please do. It matters. Thank you.
I LOVE this store. And would frequently go there as much as possible. This is completely shocking to me that someone would do this.
So, I live up the road from this store, it is about 10 minutes away from my house. I found out about this on FACEBOOK.. This is NOT normal in this area.. I hope the catch the jerks..
I often have people ask me why I left PA, because it is a beautiful state, this would be one of the reasons. Now with “fracking” happening all over the state as well, I’m glad I left.